I am so totally not a fancy tea drinker. I use a red stove top tea kettle with a whistler to boil my water and then I sort of guess how quickly it cools down for teas that need specific temperatures. I’m sure one day I’ll buy a water thermometer. Maybe.

My favorite tea accessory is my tea mug. :) I bought it at Barnes and Noble. It is awesome. It’s a thick plastic double-walled travel mug with a screw on silver and pink lid. It has a removable steel basket to steep in and a removable plastic mouth piece. And it’s BPA free. It holds 11 to 12 ozs. The best thing of all is that it’ll keep the tea warm for at least 6 hours. I love it. It’s opened up the world of taking hot tea to work and school for me.

If I’m drinking at home I use various coffee mugs but my favorite mug – don’t laugh – is a purple Eeyore mug with a yellow inside. It’s so cute.

Yes I have. :) As long as you screw on the top well, it won’t leak at all. It actually has one of those tiny clips on the side of it to attach it to a bag/purse/anything. When you attach it, the mug jostles all over the darn place, and I’ve yet to experience a leak even when it’s like that! I’ve only had it for a few weeks so far, so it might spring a leak down the road, but for now it’s been excellent.

2. My Maté gourd y bombilla. I wouldn’t have discovered the wonderful world of tea had it not been for Maté.

3. This may get me shunned but it would be my Breville 800ESXL Espresso Machine. OK, hear my out. So I have a lot of friends that find me weird with my tea obsession and often don’t want to give “plain old boring tea” a try. I have thus came up with a way to mortar and pestle rooibos into a finer powder which you can then run through an espresso machine as if it were coffee. Steam some milk to perfection add a little flavor shot and out comes yet another tea convert, hasn’t failed me yet!

As much as I love my IngenuiTEA, it’s a bit fussy for everyday use and cleaning. The one thing that makes brewing loose tea as simple as a teabag is my Republic of Tea “People’s Brew Basket” (mine is the nylon mesh not stainless steel). Best $4 I ever spent. http://www.republicoftea.com/The-People-s-Brew-Basket/p/V00978/

Definitely the teapot I bought from an artisan potter back when I lived in Australia .. It’s served me well for the last 16-18yrs, but I sadly chipped the spout just recently :( That’s ironically what got me back into tea, and hence discovering Steepster!

If the Breville doesn’t take top honors I will be severely shocked and disappointed lol. I love glass as well although I prefer a champagne flute or wine glass. Sheng in a clear glass shot glass is cool too since I make it in small volumes. What kind of thermometer do you have?

I live near a Teavana and bought one of theirs. It is also programmable so that it will beep when the water reaches the desired temp and can beep again when the infusion time desired has elapsed. And, yes, I am in LOVE with the Breville. It arrived yesterday. :)

My favorite tea accessory is my one and only teapot from china. I have the whole set, but i mainly only use the teapot… i think one of these days i’ll have to have a teaparty just so i can use the teacups! But i use my teapot all the time, even when i make tea using my teavana teamaker.

I also love the teapot i bought in japan for my parents, but it hasn’t been used yet :(